My dad sometimes forward me
the Taipan daily investment newsletter. They always have some good
insight in to the stock market and economy. This article
today by Adam Lass is great. The great value of home ownership is not
measured by appreciation rates or equity. When will the real
estate market recover? When enough people realize a home is a
home
first and an investment second.

If you buy a home today and
it never appreciates one dime (not likely) it can still be a good
investment. It is a good investment in your family and yourself.
It is the place where most of your lifetime memories will be
made. Over the long term you will have a forced savings account through
equity build up. Mr.
Lass points out what I have been saying for while. Your home
is where you raise your family, share good times with friends, and
build the memories that are the fabric of life. That is the true return
on the investment in home ownership!

The Gold in My Backyard

Here's what the 50-year low in mortgages
means to your wallet – and your sanity.

Many of you will travel great
distances this long summer weekend, to
visit hot sandy beaches and cool summer cabins in the mountains

I will not, but do not mourn
for me.

I am quite pleased to spend the
holiday on Seven Oaks Farm. It is my
intention to tend to an outbuilding in dire need of scraping and
painting. We have just had several old trees that fell over the winter
ground to mulch, and I look forward to carting it up to the gardens.

Come Monday, we will head into
the old village to drink lemonade,
watch the parade in the morning and the local fire department's
fireworks come nightfall. With any luck, the chief will not ignite his
overalls again this year.

But even if he does launch a
rocket across the high school's field (or perhaps especially then), it
is all pure gold.

True Confessions

I didn't always live on an old
soybean farm in rural Maryland. I used to be... a New Yorker!